13th Sunday, Death of Body - Death of Soul

 

 In the end, there are two things we cannot escape, death and taxes. But where did death come from? Did God make death? The first reading from the book of Wisdom states, “God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living.”

If God didn’t make death, who did? The book of Wisdom states, “But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world..”

When the devil tricked Eve into taking the forbidden fruit, he said to her, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

She said, “God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” But the serpent lied saying “You will not die.” And when she took it, it caused the immediate death of her soul. She would later have physical death, but it never would have happened, had she obeyed God.

Original sin brought about not only death of the body, but also death of the soul. It also caused man to be separated from God, the loss of divine life of God within him, and the loss his friendship with God. But this is not what God intended. “God formed man to be imperishable; in the image of His own nature He made him”. (Wisdom 2:23)

In the Gospel today, the synagogue official fears his own daughter will die. He said, “My daughter is at the point of death.” He came to Jesus to prevent her death.

As Jesus was on the way to see the young girl, a woman who was afflicted for 12 yrs. with a hemorrhage, reached out to touch His clothing to be healed. She most likely did not want to suffer and may have been afraid she would die. Our Lord wanted her to live longer, to take away her suffering, and so, He healed her out of love.

After the woman was healed, people from the official’s house told Jairus, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the teacher any longer?” Disregarding what they said, Our Lord and His disciples, followed Jairus to his home. When He arrived at the home, and knowing full well that the little girl was dead, Jesus said, “Why this commotion and weeping? The child is not dead, but asleep.” Since Our Lord, knew beyond any doubt, that the little girl had died, why did He say she was sleeping? St. Bede explains stating, “To men’s eyes she was dead, she could not be awoken; in God’s eyes she was sleeping, for her soul was alive and was subject to God’s power, and her body was resting, awaiting the resurrection.”

Overcoming death, Jesus took the child by the hand and said, “Little girl, I say to you arise!” The girl became alive, arose and immediately walked around. The raising of the girl from death is a sign of our future resurrection and a sign of Our Lord’s power over death.

As I mentioned earlier, there are two kinds of death: Death of the body and death of the soul, both of which are the result of the original sin of Adam and Eve.

Since we do everything to prevent the death of the body, shouldn’t we also, do everything to prevent death of the soul? Jesus conquers death of the soul by way of baptism and confession.

By way of baptism, through God’s infinite mercy, original sin, and all sin, is washed away, and the soul is given life. But after baptism, if we fall into serious sin, the divine life of God is gone and the soul becomes dead. That’s why it’s called mortal-- because it causes death to the soul. But, God desires not the death of the sinner, but rather that he may be converted and live. And so, He gives us the sacrament of Confession. So how serious is death of the soul?

Spiritual writer Tanquery, said “When a man falls into grave sin, he is lost for himself and for God. It is the greatest tragedy that could befall him.” He is radically cut off from God by the total loss of divine life in his soul. Mortal sin is a greater disorder than the most disastrous catastrophe in the whole world. This is so, as St. Thomas Aquinas states, “the good of grace in a single soul is greater than the natural good of the whole universe.” The loss of this most precious grace, in a single soul by mortal sin--- O what a terrible tragedy!

The Council of Trent states, “all mortal sins, even those of thought, men are made into children of wrath and enemies of God.” None of us want to be an enemy of God, but this happens, when we commit a mortal sin. Mortal sin-- what a terrible tragedy!

Three things are necessary to commit a mortal sin: First, the sin itself must be objectively grave. Second, we must know it’s a serious sin. Third, we must give full consent. If all three are present, we whole-hardheartedly choose to commit a deadly sin.

Sin is an infinite offense against God, and as the Baltimore Catechism states, mortal sin crucifies Jesus. If we want to see the ugliness of mortal sin, just look at a Crucifix. Mortal sin is like giving our full consent to crucifying Jesus. Once He has died, ---we take the spear--- with the solider-- and thrust it-- into His Heart. Mortal sin-- O what a terrible tragedy!

Saint Pope John Paul II said, “With greater or lesser violence, with consequences of greater or lesser harm, every sin has repercussions on the entire ecclesial body and the whole human family.” In other words, every sin, even in the secret of the heart, hurts not only our self, and our relationship with God, but also it hurts the body of Christ, and the whole human family. Mortal sin, O what a terrible tragedy!

The death of the soul is an infinitely greater tragedy, than the death of the body. All of us will die someday. We don’t know how it will happen. Whether it is sudden, by a car accident, a heart attack, a stroke, or if it be slow, by a disease, cancer, or old age.. we know not. All of us must face the physical death of the body. But all of us-- do not have to face-- the death of the soul.

Death of the body is a terrible tragedy, but if our soul is alive with grace, those who died with Our Lord, who died for us, will live with Him forever.

But if death of the body occurs, when we have death of the soul, we will be separated from God, and from our family forever. To hear the words, “Depart from me unto the everlasting flames…” would be the greatest of all tragedies! Mortal sin, O what a terrible tragedy!

If we should find our self, as an enemy of God, separating our self from Him, destroying the divine life of God within us, freely choosing to crucify the Lord by committing mortal sin… Our Divine Lord patiently waits for us, and beckons us, to come to Him to receive His sacramental touch in the Confessional. With an open Heart, He loves us and forgives us! O God’s mercy, how glorious!

By His death on the Cross, Our Lord conquered death of body and death of soul, by His rising from the dead, He gives us life. And so, through the sacrament of confession, brought about from His Paschal Mystery, our soul is given life again. O God’s mercy, how immeasurable!

Jesus said, “I came that you may have life and have it abundantly.” As Jesus gave life to the little girl, so at the end of the world all of our bodies will be given life and will rise. O God’s mercy, how powerful!

St. Faustina gives us a peek into God’s infinite mercy. Jesus said to her, “Encourage souls to place great trust in My fathomless mercy. Let the weak, sinful soul have no fear to approach Me, for even if it had more sins than there are grains of sand in the world, all would be drowned in the immeasurable depths of My mercy.” (#1059) O God’s mercy, how unfathomable!

“When approach the confessional, know this, that I myself am waiting there for you. I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in your soul. Here the misery of the soul meets the God of Mercy.” “Were a soul like a decaying corpse, so that from a human standpoint, there would be no [hope of] restoration and everything would already be lost, it is not so with God. The miracle of Divine Mercy restores that soul in full.” O God’s mercy, how incompehensible!

With the help of the Blessed Virgin Mary, just as we would do everything to prevent the death of the body, let us resolve to do everything necessary to prevent the death of the soul, and in this way, when our body dies, we will truly live forever.

And may all of us go to confession frequently, to prevent mortal sin, so all that we will die to our sins, and so, rise out of the confessional stating, “O death where is your sting! O death where is your Victory! For truly Christ our life has conquered you!”